


20 Questions

by charlsiecf



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, First Date, First Kiss, Fluff, The fluffiest fluff, adrienette - Freeform, it doesn't get fluffier than this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-11
Updated: 2016-08-02
Packaged: 2018-07-14 10:55:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,424
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7168247
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/charlsiecf/pseuds/charlsiecf
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>During their daily coffee before school, Marinette and Adrien decide to play a game</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This was supposed to be this cute, short little fic, but then I got into writing it and it got out of hand :P. Enjoy yet another fluffy Adrienette to add to the fluffy Adrienette pile

     “Am I an animal?”

     “Yes.”

     “Okay. Am I human?”

     “Hmmmm...well…yes and no.”  


    “What!? Adrien! It can’t be yes and no. Which is it?”

     The two shared a chuckle from opposite ends of the table of Marinette’s favorite coffee shop. The two of them plus Alya and Nino always met at the shop before heading to school together every morning. It was a new tradition that the group of four friends shared. It was originally Alya’s idea, but Marinette looked forward to the coffee every morning. Even if she had to wake up a little earlier, she loved having the opportunity to become closer friends with Adrien, with the assistance of Alya of course.

     But on this particular morning, both Alya and Nino appeared to be running late. While Marinette grew closer to and more comfortable with Adrien with each coffee trip, he was still her biggest crush and she was still pretty nervous around him.

     So she sought out a distraction while they waited for their friends to arrive.

     This is what brought them to this situation in which Marinette was holding a smartphone to her forehead which, through a 20 questions app, was displaying a single word.

     “Okay, okay.” Adrien smiled in response to Marinette’s confusion. “Let’s go with…yes. You are human.”

     "Am I a girl human?” Marinette continued with the game.

     “Why of course you are Marinette!” Adrien proclaimed with a wide, mischievous smile that felt strangely familiar to Marinette.

     She proceeded to roll her eyes with a smile and a chuckle. “You know what I mean,” she said back with mock exasperation.

     “I know, I know. I’m just joking with you.” Adrien’s smile made Marinette’s heart melt just a little bit. “Yes. You are a girl.”

     “Am I fictional?”

     “No. Definitely not.”

     “Am I someone we know?”

     “Umm…let’s go with no on that one.”

     Marinette found that answer a little bit strange, but it narrowed down her options enough.  


     “Let’s see…am I cool?” She struck a quick pose, meaning that as a joke question.

     Adrien laughed wholeheartedly. “Yes. Yes you are very cool.”

     Marinette smiled a slight blush touching her cheeks, and continued on with the game. “Am I a musician?”

     “Nope”

     “Am I an artist?”

     “Nuh-uh”

     “Ummm…” Marinette was starting to run out of questions to ask. “Am I from France?”

     “Yes!” Adrien’s face lit up ever so slightly.

     “Okay. Do I live in Paris?”

     “Yep!”

     Marinette thought. A girl that lived in Paris that neither of them knew that wasn’t fictional. Suddenly she remembered; both a human and an animal. That could only mean…

     “Am I a superhero?”

     Adrien’s smile grew wider. “Yep.”

     Marinette knew exactly who she was (and was amused by the irony), but just for good measure, “Do I wear spots?”

     “Yes you do!”

     “Am I Ladybug?”

     “Yes you are!” Adrien near-shouted. He stood up out of his seat and gave Marinette a high-five.

     The pair heard a sharp “Shhhhh” coming from across the café and realized how loud they were being. Adrien sat abruptly back down looking somewhat sheepish. He looked up at Marinette and after a quick moment, the two of them started giggling quietly.

     “Well that was a little more exciting than I was expecting it to be.” Marinette said once the giggling had died down. “How many questions was that?”

     “I can’t even remember,” responded Adrien. “Twelve I think?”

     “That sounds about right.” As she lowered her phone from her forehead, she happened to get a glimpse of the time. “Where are Alya and Nino? They’re not usually this late?”

     As if on cue, her phone lit up and buzzed with a text from Alya.

      _“Sorry girl! My mom surprised me with a dentist appointment this morning  I can’t make it to coffee or first period today. Can you get me one of those chocolate chip muffins (You know the ones) for me to eat during second period?”_

     Marinette responded with a quick _“sure thing”_ before receiving an almost immediate response.

      _Thanks girl! You’re the best! See you then <3 <3 _

     Marinette was just about to put down her phone when she received one more text from Alya.

      _Oh! And have fun with Adrien ;)_

     Marinette didn’t know what that was supposed to mean. Nino was going to show up any minute. The sentiment still made her blush.

     “So who was that?” Adrien’s voice snapped her back to reality.

     “Oh! That was Alya. She said she can’t make it today because she ended up having a dentist appointment.”

     “Oh!” Adrien seemed surprised. “Well, Nino just texted me and told me that he wouldn’t be able to make it because he went to school early to get some tutoring for literature class.”

     “O-oh.” Marinette replied, as her stomach dropped.

     “So it looks like it’s just going to be the two of us.” Adrien smiled with that perfect smile that she was so enchanted with.

     Suddenly Marinette reverted back to her old nervous, crushing self. She had been getting better about acting normal around Adrien, but the two of them were so rarely alone together that she couldn’t figure out what to do.

     Marinette couldn’t quite decide whether to thank or kill Alya later.

     The two had been sitting in silence for an uncomfortably long time, simply sipping at their coffee and shifting in their seats. She chastised herself for not being able to come up with anything to talk about. He must think that she hates him. She wished she could go back to two minutes ago when they were laughing together with no problem at all. Then she had an idea so that she could.

     “Do um…Do you want to play another round of 20 questions?” she asked nervously. “Here.” She passed her phone across the table to Adrien. “You can use my app for your turn.”

     Adrien thought a moment before sliding the phone back to Marinette. “I think I have a better idea.”

     Marinette tilted her head inquisitively.

     “How about we play a different kind of 20 questions.” Adrien suggested with a soft smile.

     “A different kind?” Marinette’s curiosity started to take over her nervousness.

     “Yeah!” said Adrien. “We ask questions to each other, but we trade off and we each get 10 questions.” Then Adrien lowered his voice and averted his eyes slightly. “We don’t often get time by ourselves like this so…I don’t know a lot about you.” A slight blush slowly found its way onto Adrien’s face.

     However, the blush on Marinette’s face appeared in full blast. Adrien wanted to know about her. Adrien Agreste wanted to know about her. Marinette took a deep, but subtle, breath before responding.

     “Yeah. That sounds like fun. Let’s play this different kind of 20 questions.”

     Adrien’s face lit up like a spotlight, his eyes glowing in joy. “Okay! Let’s do it! I’ll go first. Ummm….” He glanced up in thought. “Let’s start easy. Question number one: What is your favorite color?”

     Marinette was glad for the simple question to ease into the game. “Red.” She said definitively. “What’s yours?”

     “Hey, hey, hey,” Adrien said playfully. “You can’t just ask me the same question, you’ve gotta come up with a new one.”

     Marinette gave a sarcastic eye-roll out of instinct. She was becoming more comfortable with the situation by the second. “Okay then Mr. Rulebook” she said with a smirk.

     “But to answer your question,” Adrien whispered, leaning in close, as if he was about to be caught for breaking his own rules, “I’m always tied between red and green.” He then sat back up and said cheerfully “Your turn!”

     Marinette let out a snicker. “Let’s see…I’ll start easy too. Question two: What is your favorite food?”

     “Your dad’s cookies.” Responded Adrien without a moment of thought.

     “Really?”

     “Absolutely. I love those cookies. Especially the chocolate chip ones they are just,” Adrien put his fingers to his lips with a cheesy “MWAH!”

     Marinette giggled while making a mental note to bring a batch of her Dad’s cookies to the group’s next coffee outing.

 

     The questions game appeared to get more natural after each question was asked. The next few questions were as easy as the first. Favorite book, favorite class, and the like.

 

     “Okay,” Adrien started, “I think I know the answer to this one, but I’m going to ask anyway. Question Nine: Do you have any siblings?”

     Marinette shook her head. “Nope. It’s just me, Mom, and Dad.”

     “Okay that’s what I thought.” Adrien nodded as he spoke.

     “Question Ten: What is it like to be a model?” Marinette asked. She knew more about Adrien than she would care to admit, but she was always wondering this question.

     Adrien gave a slightly strained look. “Well…”

     “Was that too personal?” Marinette asked nervously, her hands flying to her cheeks. “I can come up with a different one if you don’t want to answer that one. Oh no. I’m sorry-”

     “Nonono! It’s fine!” Adrien interrupted. “It’s just a little…complicated is all.”

     Marinette calmed down. She didn’t want to pry, but now she was really curious. “How so?”

     “Well, I love it, I really do. I think it’s really fun to pose for photoshoots, I do kinda like the attention, and it makes my father happy, but on the other hand, it takes up a lot of time, and sometimes the attention can be embarrassing. For a long time I never knew if someone was trying to get close to the Adrien Agreste or if they just wanted to be friends with Adrien.” At this point, he seemed to be talking more to himself than to Marinette.

     He sat pensively for a moment before shaking himself back to reality. “In any case. That’s changed a lot. Now I have Nino, and Alya, and,” He gave Marinette a soft smile, “and you. I know that you guys are my real friends and now that I know I have you guys, it doesn’t make the un-fun things about modeling so un-fun anymore.”

     Marinette returned his smile. Even though she couldn’t quite understand what Adrien had been through, she could certainly sympathize.

     Adrien suddenly took a deep breath and sat up straight. “Well, that got a lot deeper than I meant it to. Sorry about that.”

     “Nono.” Marinette responded. “I’m glad that I could help.”

     The two sat in comfortable silence for just a moment before Adrien started his next question.

 

     Time seemed to stand still while they asked each other questions. Each one was completely focused on the questions and the answers of the other and it was like the world around them stopped existing for the entirety of the time they spent together.

 

     “Okay. Question number seventeen: When did you decide to be a fashion designer?”

     Marinette smiled at the question remembering back to the day she still remembered very well. “Well, on my ninth birthday, my grandma got me a bunch of fancy colored pencils and a pad of paper with croquis on them –um, that’s like pre-drawn models– and so that day I just started to draw clothes. Of course, I was nine so they weren’t exactly couture, but I loved to do it. By the end of the week, the pad of paper was completely full of ‘designs,’” Marinette added air quotes, “and my parents had to get me another three.” She started to laugh at the memory and to her delight, so did Adrien.

     “That is like the cutest story I have ever heard. You need to put that in your biography when you become a famous fashion designer.”

     “Aw Adrien.” Marinette blushed. “That’s so sweet of you to say. I hope I get that far.”

     “You will.” Adrien stated without a shred of doubt in his voice. “I’ve seen the things you make. You are incredibly talented.”

     “Oh stop it,” Marinette said casually even though she was squealing inside. “Anyway, it’s my turn. Question eighteen: Do you still have that charm I gave you during the video game tournament?”

     Adrien smiled and nodded. Instead of answering, he reached into his messenger bag, shuffled around a bit, and pulled out a keychain. Attached were two fairly standard keys, an ID holder with his student ID, and the charm that Marinette made.

     “I take it everywhere. It gives me good luck, just like you said it would.” Adrien said with smiling eyes. “And it reminds me that you’ve always got my back.”

     “You know I do.” Marinette’s heart swelled at the sight of the charm. She was almost certain he wouldn’t have it. To think that Adrien kept that with him thinking about her. She could barely stand the glee that filled her entire body at that thought.

     Adrien smiled as he carefully placed the keychain back in his bag. “Okay!” he said as he returned to his seated position. “I guess this is my last question for you. I better make it a good one. Hmmmmmmm….” He stroked an invisible beard feigning deep thought. “I know!” he exclaimed suddenly, almost causing Marinette to jump. “Question nineteen:” He then leaned in across the table, closer to Marinette and sqinted his eyes at her.

     Marinette, feeling slightly uncomfortable, shifted her eyes back and forth across the room, avoiding eye contact.

     Adrien then spoke, still leaning forward, still squinting, “What do you look like with your hair down?”

     Marinette instinctively reached up and grabbed her pigtails. “I-I don’t know,” she felt extremely self-conscious. She never liked the way her hair looked when it was down. That’s why she always kept it up in her pigtails or, on occasion, a bun. Even Alya had never seen her hair down.

     “Pleeeeease????” Adrien said with a wide, comical grin. “I’ve been so curious! I’m sure you’ll look great.”

     Marinette said nothing, but continued to grip her pigtails.

     Adrien suddenly noticed the hesitation and wiped the humorous expression from his face, replacing it with one of concern. “You really don’t have to if you don’t want to,” he said with a caring and gentle voice. “I was just poking a little fun. I can definitely come up with a new question if you’d like me to.” Marinette saw that in his eyes was nothing but sincerity and in that moment, she knew she could trust him.

     Marinette took a deep breath. “Okay, I’ll show you.” She pretended not to notice Adrien’s excited grin. “But you can’t laugh, you can’t take pictures, and you can’t tell anybody else.”

     Again, Adrien snapped to an expression of sincerity and seriousness. “Oh, I would never. I promise.” He held up his right hand for emphasis.

     “Okay,” she said quietly. Marinette then closed her eyes and freed her hair of their binds. She pulled off the ribbons, then the hair ties. She then quickly ran her fingers through her hair as a makeshift comb and she shook her hair out for good measure. She was still filled with self-doubt, sure that her hair was tangled and kinked in the wrong places. She was almost too afraid to open her eyes and see Adrien’s face. She knew that it wouldn’t be what he hoped, but she opened her eyes anyway.

     Adrien’s expression had changed completely. His green eyes were wide and locked onto her, his mouth hung open ever so slightly, and the entirety of his face was beet red. Marinette wasn’t sure what to make of it.

     Marinette was still running her fingers through one piece of her hair out of nervousness. “So?” she smiled sheepishly “What do you think?”

     For a moment, Adrien remained frozen, as if he didn’t hear he question. “Y-Y-You-” Adrien then tore his gaze away from the girl across the table and loudly cleared his throat. His eyes returned to her with a more typical Adrien-esque expression, though his face was still flush. “You look—It-It looks really great.”

     Marinette looked away and blushed. “You’re not just saying that?”

     Adrien shook his head a little too quickly. “You look so cute- I- I mean your hair! Your hair looks so cute and I just-” Adrien then let out a quiet flustered laugh as he scratched the back of his neck.

     Marinette’s heart fluttered. She wasn’t entirely sure, but she could have sworn she heard Adrien call her cute. However, regardless of how he felt she still preferred her hair up so with a quiet, but sincere “Thank you,” she began the process of putting her hair back into place.  
When her hair was once again, tied with ribbons, she looked back up at Adrien. He seemed to have regained his composure significantly. “I guess I have the last question then…” Marinette said, breaking the silence and putting their focus back on the game.

     “That you do, Miss Marinette,” Adrien said with a cheerful tone, seemingly completely back to normal. “So what’ll it be?” He looked at her expectantly.

     “Ummmmm…..hmmmmmmm….uhhhhhhh…” Though Marinette struggled she couldn’t come up with a question worthy enough to be the last question of the game. “Ummmmm….Oh! This is too much pressure! Question 20: Do you want the other half of my croissant?” She grabbed the remaining half of said croissant and stuck it out towards the other end of the table.”

     “Um…sure,” said Adrien somewhat deflated as he took the pastry from her hand.

     Marinette was mentally kicking herself. Of all of the questions she could have ended the game with, she panicked and offered her breakfast. She sighed to herself. Well, there was nothing to be done about it now.

     As Adrien munched on the bread, Marinette checked her phone. “Oh! First period has almost started! We should get going!”

     Adrien checked his own phone. “Oh!” he exclaimed with a mouth half-full.

     Marinette went to the counter, purchased the muffin Alya requested and then came back to the table where Adrien was packing his bag, preparing to leave. He picked up Marinette’s bag and offered it to her, an offer Marinette graciously accepted.

     The two left the café and began the short walk to school. They chatted half-heartedly about school, classes, and homework, both thinking about the game of 20 questions in the back of their minds.

     They soon saw the hustle and bustle of other students taking their walks to school, hurrying to make it to their first classes. Adrien and Marinette stopped their chatting and picked up the pace of their stroll so as to make it to their own class.

     Just before they entered the school building, Adrien suddenly stopped. Marinette walked a few more paces before she noticed and stopped as well. She looked back at the boy she had left behind. His head was down, gaze cast intently at his own shoes.

     “Hey Marinette?” he asked.

     “Yes?” Marinette responded, confused.

     “Can I…break the rules of my own game and ask you one more question?” His eyes had not lifted from the ground, his voice quiet and unsure.

     Marinette took several steps toward him until she was directly ahead. “Of course.” Her eyes and voice were full of concern. This was not the confident Adrien she knew.

     “Okay…Question twenty-one:” She saw him take a deep breath. He clutched the strap of his bag across his chest “Marinette…will you-” He lifted his green eyes to meet Marinette’s blue ones, “will you go out with me? On-” he gulped “On a real date?”

     Marinette froze. Her breathing stopped, her thinking stopped, everything stopped. She had to be dreaming. Did Adrien Agreste, the boy of her dreams, seriously just ask her on a date? He couldn’t have. Could he? Her mind was filled with questions and yet, completely still. She was just stuck in one spot, staring forward into Adrien’s eyes.

     “Marinette?” Adrien asked a bit louder and a bit more confident. “Marinette? Will you go on a date with me?”

     He smiled one of his perfect Adrien smiles and Marinette’s frozen brain began to melt with her heart. She responded in a series of tiny, barely visible nods that grew to larger ones as a joyful smile grew on her face. “Yes. I – I would really like that.”

     Adrien’s smile grew even wider with pure joy and ecstasy. He began to bounce in place as if he weren’t sure what to do with himself. “Really?”

     Marinette nodded again, “Yeah.”

     “That’s-That’s great!” There was nothing but happiness in his voice. The two of them locked eyes again and then began to giggle in excitement and joy, neither quite sure what to do from there.

     That’s when the school bell rang, pulling them from their moment of happiness.

     “Well, I guess I’ll see you later!” Adrien began to head into the school before, as an impulse decision, he dashed back to Marinette, planted a quick kiss onto her cheek, and dashed away into the building, leaving her standing outside.

     She stood still for a moment, dazed and shocked, as she ran over the events that just happened in her head. She slowly brought her hand to touch the cheek that Adrien had just kissed.

     A smile graced her face just before she jumped into the air with a triumphant “YES!” She knew she was going to be late for class, she knew people could probably hear her, but she didn’t care. It had finally happened. Adrien asked her out! For real! She was going to go on a date with Adrien. She knew nothing could ruin her mood on this day and nothing could make her feel better than she felt right then and there.

     After taking one more moment to reflect, she too walked into the building heading to her first class, knowing that all of her biggest dreams were finally within her grasp.

 

     And it was all thanks to twenty questions.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrien and Marinette discuss their preparation for their first date with their best friends

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Due to popular demand, I have decided to continue this fluffy fic with a teaser chapter, and then the fluffiest chapter you have ever read coming soon after. Can it get fluffier than it already has been? You'll have to read and see!

“Cataclysm!”

Chat Noir lunged towards the newly acumatized villain, the Numerator, whom Marinette had figured out was, in fact, Ms. Mendeleiv, her math teacher.

“Chat! Wait!” screamed Ladybug as she chased after her leather-clad partner, just narrowly grabbing him by the tail.

Chat lost his momentum and fell directly onto the concrete, barely keeping his cataclysmic claw from touching the ground

“Ladybug! I had it! I was just about to get her. She’s getting away!”

“What is up with you today!?” Ladybug raised her voice. “First of all, that was completely reckless! You can’t just run in there! We didn’t have any kind of plan and you’ll transform if you waste your cataclysm. And second of all, we’re facing a MATH villain called the Numerator and you haven’t even made one single math pun!”

Ladybug helped Chat to his feet. “I’m just in a hurry, okay?” He crossed his arm across his chest in a closed stance. 

“In a hurry for what?”

“I-” Chat’s brow furrowed as his frown became even more defined. “I have something I need to prepare for.”

Ladybug mimicked his expression in concern. This was very unlike Chat. He was clearly stressed about something, and Marinette thought she saw a trace of nervousness in his eyes. She decided not to press the issue any further because he clearly didn’t want to talk about it. 

Ladybug gave him a sympathetic smile and tilted her head. “Come on. Let’s go get the Numerator. But this time, let’s come up with a plan.”

Chat closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. When he reopened them again, they seemed to be once again filled with that usual Chat flair. “Let’s go. Things don’t seem to be adding up with this villain.”

“There he is,” said Ladybug somewhat annoyed, but mostly relieved. She used her yoyo to swing away, with Chat in close purrrrsuit. “I’ve already got a plan. I know exactly what to do!” 

 

 

“I have no IDEA what to do!!!” 

Marinette flopped on her clothing-covered bed in frustration.

“Marinette, you’re putting too much thought into this. It’s just a date.” 

“But it’s my first date with Adrien! I have been wishing for this moment for forever! What in the world am I going to wear? What am I going to talk about? What do I do?”

“Slow down girl. Let’s answer these questions one at a time,” said Alya, trying her best to calm her frantic best friend. “Where are you going on this date?”

“I don’t know! Adrien said it would be a surprise and that I should leave it to him!” Marinette’s panic had not settled in the slightest.

“Hmmm…” said Alya. “That does make it hard to choose an outfit. What time is he picking you up?”

Marinette scrolled through her texts with Adrien to double-check. “He said eight.”

“Hmmmmmmmm…” repeated Alya. I’m on it! She then headed into Marinette’s closet and began shuffling around clothes. She then called back to Marinette, “What was the next question?”

“What do I talk about?” Marinette yelled slightly back to make sure Alya could hear her.

“Well, that one’s pretty easy actually.”

“How!?” Marinette asked, baffled.

“Well, you played that twenty questions game at coffee right?”

Marinette raised an eyebrow “the one that you tricked me into?”

Alya popped her head out to look at Marinette. “Hey, don’t judge me. I’m the one that got you a date.” She, once again, disappeared into the closet. “Besides, I didn’t actually realize that was going to work.”

“You set me up with Adrien and you didn’t even think it was going to work!?” Marinette exclaimed in disbelief.

“Just answer the question!” Alya called.

Marinette rolled her eyes. “Yes. We did play twenty questions.”

“Well there’s twenty new conversation topics.”

“Bu-But”

“Girl. You have nothing to worry about! He totally likes you and he’ll like you no matter what!”

“I know. I just-” she laid against the bed and stared at the ceiling,

 

“I just want everything to be perfect.”

 

 

“I have no IDEA what to do!!!”

Adrien was pacing around his room in extreme distress.

“Dude, it’s just a date.” Said Nino from his comfortable seat on the couch as he watched his best friend’s quickening pace.

“It’s NOT just a date Nino!” Adrien realized he was shouting and cleared his throat. Then significantly quitter, he continued. “This is my first date. Not only is it my first date EVER, it’s my first date with MARINETTE! And it’s tomorrow!”

“Adrien, you’re a cool guy and she’s totally nuts about you. You shouldn’t worry.”

“I know I’m just-” Adrien let out a huge sigh as he sat next to Nino on the couch. “I’m so nervous. I really like her. And I told her to leave all the planning to me since I’m the one that asked her. I told her it would be a surprise, but I have no plans. None. Nothing is coming to me.”

“Well, let’s think. What kind of vibe do you want it to have?” asked Nino, who was trying his best to keep Adrien from pacing again.

“I want it to be personal, but not super creepy, and lighthearted, but also romantic. I don’t want to be too extravagant, but at the same time, I-I want to write her name in the stars.”

“Yeah I think the stars thing is definitely more of a third date kind of move,” joked Nino

Adrien cracked a smile and lightly smacked Nino in the arm before resting his head on the back of the couch. 

 

“I just want everything to be perfect.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrien and Marinette finally go on their first date

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is: the final fluffy chapter of this fluffy fluff fic. I hope you enjoy it and I hope it was worth the wait.

When the doorbell rang, Marinette’s breath caught in her throat. This was it. This was her first date with Adrien. 

She waved goodbye to her excited parents who, per her request, were sitting in the living room, away from where she was meeting Adrien.

She took a quick look in the mirror to make sure she looked okay. She and Alya had an emergency shopping trip to get her the perfect outfit; a black sundress with white polka dots, a necklace with a green pendant, and matching, green flats and purse. She adjusted a stray hair back into into the bun on her head, and tugged on the green ribbon around it to make sure it was tight.

When she opened the door, her heart swelled. Part of her was expecting him not to be there, but there he was. Perfectly perfect and perfectly Adrien. 

Neither of them spoke as they took a moment to take in the other’s look. Marinette was relieved. She didn’t feel too under or overdressed. Adrien was wearing a red collared shirt over a simple, black V-neck and a pair of nice, dark-wash jeans over a pair of dress shoes. He was wearing a little bit too much cologne, but Marinette didn’t really mind. He looked even better than she had ever imagined, and she wanted to pinch herself to make sure this was really happening. 

Adrien’s face quickly grew flush as he gazed at Marinette. He touched his neck and averted his gaze and then looked back repeatedly as if he was looking at the sun. For once in her life, Marinette believed she was the one that was less nervous in the situation and that was saying a lot, due to how nervous she was.

“Y-You-You look-” Adrien stuttered to finish his sentence, but the words never came.

“So do you.” Marinette interrupted with a nervous smile.

Adrien seemed relieved that she understood what he meant. He took a moment to take a deep breath and Marinette took the opportunity to do the same. 

“Shall we?” Adrien asked, hands pointed away from the door. He still seemed nervous, but his smile was a little brighter and more natural than it was just a minute ago.

Marinette nodded and smiled. She felt a little more natural too, now that they were moving. As she turned to close the door, she caught a glimpse of her parents peeking around the corner at them. The sight was very amusing. She gave them one last smile before closing the door and walking side-by-side with Adrien as they went to their mystery destination.

 

At first, they walked in silence. Neither of them had been on many dates in the past if any at all, so they were both somewhat clueless as to what to talk about, and both wanting to impress the other. As they walked past the coffee shop, the tension between them was palpable. Marinette felt like she had to break the silence and start some sort of conversation.

But as Marinette started some generic small-talk about the weather, Adrien started some generic small-talk about a new movie simultaneously. Both of them stopped after speaking over each other.

“Sorry!” they both said. “You go first,” they said together again. 

Suddenly, they stopped walking, made eye contact for a moment, and then burst into a fit of laughter. The tension disappeared instantly as they both laughed about the ridiculousness of the situation. 

“I’m so sorry,” said Adrien mid-laugh. One of his hands was firmly on his chest to suppress the chuckles involuntarily flowing out of him.

“Nonono.” Marinette waved her hand for emphasis whilst still giggling. “I’m sorry. I’m really bad at this.” 

“Oh trust me,” Adrien said as he had just gotten over his giggle fit, “so am I. This is actually my very first date and I’m kind of nervous.”

“No way,” dismissed Marinette. “I’m sure you’re quite the ladies man.” She lightly elbowed him in the side at the last two words as they began to walk again.

“No, no. It’s true.” Adrien didn’t seem embarrassed at this. He almost seemed proud of this. “You, Marinette Dupain Cheng are my very first date.” He presented a little bow at his lighthearted statement.

“Oh, well I am absolutely honored to hold this title!” She mimicked the bow with a joking grin on her face. 

In the back of her mind, she thought about all of the articles that she had read on what to do and talk about on a first date. She was fairly certain that she was doing the exact opposite of what they all said she should do, but now she was with Adrien and for the first time since he asked her out, she felt normal with him. She was going on a date with not only her crush, but with one of her best friends. So she cleared her mind of everything that she had been told was right and wrong, and she followed her gut and her heart.

“Yeah, this is my first real date too,” continued Marinette.

“What do you mean by real date?” Adrien’s voice contained no suspicion or aggression, only curiosity. 

“Well, remember that time I went out with an Akumatized supervillain? I told you, Nino, and Alya about it one time at coffee.”

“Oh yeah!” confirmed Adrien, whose face was full of remembrance. “That was the...uh…Evillustrator right?”

Marinette nodded

“And didn’t Chat Noir swoop in and save the day?” asked Adrien with a grin.

Marinette rolled her eyes jokingly. “He sure did.” Her tone was joking, but the statement was mostly true. She saw his smile get a little wider and his back a little straighter. “You really are a big fan of his aren’t you?”

Adrien chuckled as he nodded. “Well I mean, who wouldn’t be? He’s cool, and suave, and powerful.” Adrien put his fists up for emphasis. “What more could you want in a city-saving superhero?”

“Hey, hey, hey, don’t count out Ladybug,” interjected Marinette, putting her hands up. “She’s smart, level-headed, and always has a plan.” Marinette hoped she wasn’t bragging too much about herself, but she couldn’t let Chat Noir get all of the credit.

Adrien nodded. “That’s why they’re the dream team.” He said it so matter-of-factly. 

Marinette nodded back in response. Marinette knew that she and Chat were a great team, but she had never liked him nearly as much as she’d liked Adrien.

Adrien stopped suddenly in front of a small building. “This is part one of our date.” He smiled down at Marinette as she turned to look at the storefront.

It was an ice cream parlor.

Marinette’s face lit up. This was one of her favorite places in town. She had talked about it with Alya, Nino, and Adrien in passing, but she couldn’t believe he actually remembered. 

“I-um,” Adrien started with a slight blush, “I know you really like this place,” he said reading her mind, “and since it’s close to the end of summer, I figured it might be our last chance to get some ice cream before it gets too cold.”

“Awww. Adrien! That’s so thoughtful!” she beamed up at him as they walked into the establishment. “You underestimate me though.”

Adrien cocked his head and raised an eyebrow in confusion. 

“It could be zero degrees outside and I will STILL come in here for a mango and rocky road sundae.”

“Wait, wait, wait,” interrupted Adrien as they made their way to the back of the line. “Mango and rocky road?! No offence Marinette, but that actually sounds like the worst thing ever.” He was still flashing that classing Adrien smile while he joked.

“I know, I know. It sounds super weird,” Marinette agreed, “but you’ve gotta try it! It’ll change your life.” 

Adrien laughed. “We’ll see about that.”

When it was their turn to order, Marinette ordered a cup with a scoop of mango and a scoop of rocky road, and Adrien ordered a waffle bowl with two scoops of pistachio and rainbow sprinkles. After paying, the pair walked out of the ice cream parlor together, slowly enjoying their treats while they walked and talked.

“You actually like pistachio?” asked Marinette.

“Yeah! Have you ever tried it?”

“Well, no, but-” she then made an over-exaggerated disgusted face at the idea.

Adrien laughed wholeheartedly which delighted Marinette. He thought she was funny. Marinette’s stomach did flips. “Well, you know what they say,” said Adrien. “Don’t knock it-”

“’Till you’ve tried it,” finished Marinette with a roll of her eyes.

“How about this,” suggested Adrien. “If you try a bite of my delicious ice cream treat, I’ll try a bite of your…strange concoction.” Adrien mimicked Marinette’s disgusted face.

She laughed at the imitation. “Challenge accepted!”

“Okay then! Mine first!” Adrien stopped walking and faced Marinette. He took a moderate spoonful of his ice cream and held it just in front of Marinette’s lips. Marinette was slightly embarrassed, yet exhilarated at the idea of sharing a spoon with Adrien, but she cautiously accepted the offer. 

Marinette made sure to savor the flavor before nodding her head slowly, looking up at Adrien who gazed at her expectantly. “Yep!” she said. “It is equally as horrible as I expected.”

“What?!” Adrien exclaimed incredulously. “There is no way you don’t like pistachio ice cream. No one in the world dislikes pistachio ice cream.”

“Well now there is one person in the world.” Marinette joked, pointing at herself. “Okay! Now it’s my turn.” She took a spoonful of her ice cream, making sure to have equal parts mango and rocky road, and presented it in front of Adrien’s lips. He hesitated for just a moment, and Marinette couldn’t help but wonder if it was for the same reason Marinette had done the same, or if it was just because of the strange flavor combination, but like Marinette, he too accepted the offer.

When Marinette removed the spoon from his lips, Adrien seemed to almost be deep in thought, truly considering the strange flavor. After a moment, he swallowed the bite of ice cream. 

“Wow.” He said flatly, his face completely unreadable.

“Wow good or wow bad?” asked Marinette.

“Wow like you were totally right!” A huge smile graced his face. “That is the weirdest, but most satisfying flavor combination ever!”

“See!? I told you!” The pair continued walking along the sidewalk.

“You sure did! How did you even come up with this?” Adrien asked with genuine curiosity.

“You know, I don’t really remember…” She actually did, but Marinette was too embarrassed to tell him the truth. It had been just a few weeks after she had met Adrien. She was just about to order when he walked into the same parlor. In her nervousness, she had ordered the first two flavors she saw, which just so happened to be mango and rocky road. Coincidentally, she ended up loving the strange flavor.

“Well, regardless,” said Adrien, pulling her out of her memories, “I’ll be ordering this from now on!” 

Marinette smiled. It made her so happy knowing that she had even a small impact on Adrien’s life. 

The two walked in comfortable silence and they continued enjoying their ice cream. Marinette noticed that they were headed in the general direction of the Eiffel Tower. It was still fairly early, so it wasn’t yet lit up, but she couldn’t help but assume that it might play a role in Adrien’s plans for later that evening.

“Well,” said Adrien, grabbing her attention, “Here we are! Part two of the date!”

He held out his arms in a displaying fashion, gesturing towards a bench. Nothing about this bench seemed particularly different or special besides the fact that it faced the Eiffel tower. Marinette looked back at Adrien.

“Part two of our date is pretty simple,” he said. “We’re just gonna hang out on this bench and, you know, talk.” Adrien almost seemed a little embarrassed, or was it nervous…Marinette couldn’t quite tell.

Marinette smiled widely. “I love that idea.”

Adrien blushed as he mimicked her wide smile. He then bent down and brushed a few stray leaves off of the bench. He then repeated the displaying gesture in an attempt to invite Marinette to sit, which she did. He then sat next to her, a little bit closer than they had ever sat before. He turned his body to face her and she did the same. It wasn’t the most comfortable position, but it was worth it to be able to clearly look at Adrien.

 

The pair of them then did exactly what Adrien had planned. They talked. It seemed somewhat forced at first, but as they got going, the conversation flowed naturally. They shared stories of their childhoods, reminisced about things they had done together that year, asked each other questions, even gossiped about Alya and Nino, and just when they felt like they had run out of things to talk about, there was always more. 

On that day, on that bench, in that park, she felt like she could tell him anything and everything, excluding certain extraordinary, magical details, of course. But even that, she almost felt like she could reveal to Adrien. He listened intently to everything she said, responded when invited, and pitched in with his own stories when she was done. Not only was he the perfect gentleman, but it still felt like she was talking with one of her best friends.

 

“You know,” said Adrien, changing the subject from what they had been talking about previously, “I didn’t say this earlier, but I really like your hair like this too.”

Marinette blushed. “Oh, thank you,” she responded shyly.

“Now I’ve seen you hair in three different styles!” said Adrien with a little too much enthusiasm.

Marinette giggled. “Well that’s certainly more than most. I used to wear my hair up like this until I started doing the pigtails.”

Adrien smiled back. “It looks nice. Oh!” he started, his attention shifting off of her face ever so slightly. “A piece just fell out. Hold on.” 

Adrien reached his hand toward her face. Marinette sat as still as a statue, wondering if she was actually dreaming. His fingers lightly brushed her cheek as she suppressed a shiver. Her eyes were still glued to his face. He gently brushed the stray strand of hair behind her ear and then his hand lingered at the side of her face. His eyes locked with Marinette’s and she felt her heart skip a beat. The two stayed frozen for just a moment; a moment that seemed like an eternity. 

Suddenly, a bright light appeared in the corner of their visions. They tore themselves away from each other’s eyes to see that the lights of the Eiffel tower had finally been lit for the evening. Marinette hadn’t even noticed that it was beginning to get dark.

Marinette’s gaze returned to Adrien as she realized that he was still touching her cheek. He seemed to make the same realization and cautiously pulled away with a few shy, nervous chuckles. Shy, nervous chuckles that Marinette returned in kind.

“Hey,” said Adrien. “Have you ever been to the top of the Eiffel tower?”

“Hmmm…” feigned Marinette as she reminisced over her many Ladybug adventures that had eventually led to climbing the tower at some point. “Yeah, I’ve been up there a couple times.”

“Well,” continued Adrien, “Have you ever been up there at sunset?”

Marinette thought seriously about this one. Of all the times she had been to the top, she didn’t think she had once visited at sunset. “Um, no. No I don’t think I have,” she answered.

Adrien’s face lit up into one of his brightest smiles. “Me either!” he exclaimed, a bit too loudly. He then grabbed both of Marinette’s hands. Her heart flipped. “Would you like to see it together?”

In her heart’s endless fluttering, she couldn’t even find the word to say yes, so she simply nodded to him excitedly. 

“Great!” Adrien said getting up from his seat on the bench quickly. Marinette followed suit. “Well, sunset’s only in a few minutes so we better hurry!”

“Okay!” responded Marinette.

Adrien then released one of Marinette’s hands, but held onto the other firmly as he pulled her along with him toward the tower. She could barely keep up with his excited running pace, but Marinette held fast and managed to keep herself from being dragged and miraculously, didn’t trip once. She silently thanked her feet for being reliable for once.

It didn’t take long for them to approach the tower and reach the elevator entrance. When Marinette stopped, she was panting heavily from the run, which she would have found embarrassing, but Adrien was in the exact same shape. He pressed the elevator’s call button and took a moment to catch his breath.

Marinette couldn’t help but notice that even after they had finished running, Adrien was still holding her hand firmly. He continued to hold it as they boarded the elevator. Part of Marinette wanted to squeal with delight and exhilaration because she was holding hands with Adrien Agreste, but the other part of her felt…comfortable. Holding hands with Adrien almost felt natural to her. She felt the way his fingers were a bit warmer than hers and how they fidgeted ever so slightly as he stood next to her in the empty elevator as it took them to their final destination. While her stomach was doing summersaults, her mind was strangely at ease.

Without really thinking about it, she moved half a step closer to Adrien so their shoulders were nearly touching, and gave his hand a slight squeeze with her own. This prompted him to turn his head and give Marinette a gentle smile and a squeeze back. Neither of them spoke, but their actions seemed to speak for them.

When the elevator let out a loud "ding", they both returned their attention to the metal doors as they opened to reveal the top floor of the Eiffel tower. The two approached the railing at the edge of tower. It was unusually quiet up tonight. Usually, the top of the tower was packed with tourists, but tonight, it was only occupied by a small number of people. They mostly seemed to be couples, but Marinette could identify one or two families and a few lone travelers among the mix. 

Marinette turned her attention to the view off the edge of the railing. She always loved the view from up here. She felt like she could see not only all of Paris, but sometimes she felt as if she could see all of the world right at her fingertips. 

Marinette reluctantly released Adrien’s hand so that she could properly hold onto the guardrail, Adrien taking his place right next to her. She took a deep breath as she took everything in.

“Here it comes,” Adrien whispered into her ear. 

Marinette directed her attention to the sky. Just as Adrien said, the sun was just about to touch the horizon. After just a few short seconds, the sky seemed to light up in a wide array of different colors. The purple of the delicate clouds seemed to dance on the deep orange of the sunset sky while the blue of the approaching night grew larger. Marinette had seen sunsets before, but never like this one. She wanted to capture this moment onto a canvas and keep it forever.

When the sun had was nearly halfway through its descent, Marinette let out an awestruck sigh. “Wow,” she said, nearly whispering. “This is-” she quickly glanced at Adrien who seemed to be gazing at the skyline with the same amount of wonder that she was, “This is amazing, Adrien.”

Adrien said something under his breath that Marinette couldn’t quite catch.

“What was that?” Marinette asked

Adrien took a deep breath and turned to face her. Marinette mirrored his action, not sure what to expect next. 

“You’re amazing, Marinette.”

In that moment, Marinette forgot about the sunset completely. She forgot about the view, and the people, and everything else in the world. All that was left was her and Adrien. In that moment, she gazed upon his kind, sincere face and the way his sparkling green eyes and golden blonde hair glowed in the twilight. In that moment, she did something impulsive, and crazy, and brave. 

Marinette reached her hands up to meet around Adrien’s neck, lifted herself onto her toes, closed her eyes, and placed her lips upon Adrien’s in a gentle kiss.

Marinette felt Adrien’s hands against her waist as he leaned into the short, sweet kiss. A million fireworks set off inside Marinette’s heart as her mind emptied of everything but this moment and this kiss. For once in her life, she didn’t fell an inkling of fear or regret.

It was only a few seconds before Marinette pulled away and opened her eyes. She could see Adrien following suit, his eyes fluttering open in a daze.

The two shared a gaze for just another moment, before Adrien pulled Marinette closer to him and leaned down to share in another kiss. Marinette’s eyes closed once more as she leaned into him with everything she had, just wanting this feeling to last forever. 

Adrien smiled into the kiss, and Marinette couldn’t help but to do the same. It certainly wasn’t the most graceful kiss, with a few instances of bumping noses and clicking teeth, but neither of them cared. This kiss was happier than either of them could ever have imagined.

As the two separated from their second kiss, they pressed their foreheads together and let out some light giggles in pure ecstasy. There were no words shared between them. They didn’t need any.

Adrien snuck in one quick peck on Marinette’s nose before the two pried themselves away from one another to look back over the Paris landscape. The sun had long since set, but the view of Paris at night was still quite sight to behold.

Adrien reached down and laced his fingers into Marinette’s as she rested her head onto his shoulder. Everything about this was comfortable, and wondrous, and absolutely perfect.

“So…” Adrien piped up after an uncertain amount of time. “Question twenty-two:” Marinette chuckled at the reference to the game that had led them to this situation in the first place. “On a scale of one to ten, how well do you think this date went?”

“Eh,” responded Marinette with a smile on her face. “Maybe about a three, I don’t know.” She could barely keep herself from laughing.

“What?!” Adrien joked back. “On what grounds?”

“I don’t know man, I just don’t think I can date someone who willingly eats pistachio ice cream. It’s just not right.”

The two could no longer hold their laughter as they burst into giggles with full force. 

“But seriously,” Marinette said after she had recovered from their giggle-fit, “tonight was one of the best nights I’ve ever had.”

“Really?” asked Adrien. “You mean it?”

“Yes.” She snuggled even closer to Adrien. “Tonight was absolutely perfect.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really hope you enjoyed this fluffy fic because I cannot tell you how much I blushed while writing it.  
> I would really appreciate any feedback you can give me and it was so much fun to write this for you. Thank you for reading!  
> (Side note: I have never been to Paris and have no idea how the Eiffel tower works. So if there are any inaccuracies, please let me know and I'll fix it.)


End file.
